Boston University students who have logged on to the Student Link in anticipation of this weekend’s class registration surely have noticed the big, red greeting beneath the planning button that reads “Holding a seat in a class in which you do not intend to enroll is prohibited.”
In years past, students with higher standing have been known to hold a place in a popular class for their friends with a later registration time. After registration, the student with the class would then drop the class and have their friend immediately pick it up.
The university has taken notice of the shuffling going on between students who finagle their way into a full class and those who complain because they genuinely need the class to graduate, or as a pre-requisite to another, and they want students to know it will not be tolerated.
But will it?
There’s no indication in the warning that punishment will ensue. But even if students were to be penalized, how exactly would they go about doing so? And furthermore, how could they prove it?
The action seems to be a situation of BU warning against doing something to appease those complaining, but they won’t actually enforce it, allowing for its continuation. Essentially, the entire thing seems like an attempt for the university to rid itself of blame without actually doing anything to solve the situation.
The Student Union has made a proposal for an online waitlist system that could potentially solve the problem. The proposal would nearly eliminate the dropping and swapping. The proposal also includes a clause with the faculty’s ability to make appeals, allowing for a student to take the class if they desperately need it.
If BU wants to take action, it should do so. The university needs to follow through and take actual steps toward preventing and punishing students from holding classes, if they plan to warn students not to do so. Leaps and bounds aren’t necessary, but even baby steps must be taken if the administration actually expects students to follow this. The university cannot expect students to stop manipulating the system if it doesn’t do anything to change it.
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